Like a Dream Fleeing Fast (2018) for teacher and student

Here is a piece I composed almost two years ago:

The idea is that it should be performed by an experienced pianist accompanying a beginning pianist. The experienced pianist (or teacher, as it probably will be) performs the bottom two staves, while the student should perform the top staff. This should probably be practiced with a metronome as much as possible.

It allows for early introduction to playing interesting music with another musician (which was neglected in my piano experience, but never in my experience with other instruments!).

What are your thoughts on the feasibility of a teacher-student duet (at, say, a recital), the artistic merits of the piece, and anything else?

MP3 and PDF are also available:

Hi, Alex!

I liked this! It wasn't very obtrusive yet it was still pleasant to listen to. There isn't any counterpoint (both a pro and a con, I guess) so the piece is simple enough to play. As an advanced pianist accomanying, I would want something more "meaty," especially in the left hand. Easy to say, hard to do—you don't want to drown out the single notes at the top. Not a dealbreaker, just a personal preference.

The score looks a little messy, probably owing to all of the hairpins. At the very least, I would get rid of some of the dynamics markings since they recur so often. You might move the final hairpin in between the piano staves. Also, your coda symbol is sitting on top of what look likes the measure 19 marking. Is there a way to keep those from clashing?

That's being a little picky, though. I think you did a great job overall. Keep up the good work!

@Tónskáld

Thanks for your feedback! I do appreciate the sentiment to have something more involved as an accompanist XD. I didn't want the beginning pianist to be too overwhelmed by "oh my god look at all those fast notes" though.

You're right, I hadn't noticed the messy bits in the score -- I'll go back take a look at those if I ever need to prepare this for performance (that coda-m.19 collision is very sneaky). Thanks again!

(Also, for anyone else on this thread -- the video does not match up with the score, so check out the PDF for a clearer view of the parts. The PDF is still a little busy though.)

Hi, I often use various resources to enjoy some cool music. I read a lot of materials and often write down my thoughts about performances and concerts. I have not seen this for a long time, so far I recommend that you study https://papersowl.com/examples/bill-gates/ Bill Gates Essays so that you understand the seriousness of my level and intentions and I want to say that you would be very interested in me, I would about you and wrote some materials for your music, we could work well together.

I absolutely love this idea...can't believe I haven't thought of it haha. If you were ever to have a chance at a performance for a future work like this, I would suggest getting the advice of your teacher to help you write it, and more importantly to know the limitations they have. Honestly to me, this piece was more like a duet for beginners. The advice of the teacher would be to help you know what kinds of figures they're capable of, and more difficult passages given to the teacher would not only make your music show the teacher/student duet side of it more, but the student could then practice the teacher's parts as something to strive for.

Great piece aurally though, I love the sense of longing within it. Your musical voice is there! Keep writing!